


Whispers In Winter

by FeliciaAmelloides



Series: A Oneshot a Day... [96]
Category: South Park
Genre: Awkward questions, Cinammon Roll, Gen, Implied Death???, Karen McCormick Needs Love And Protection, Kenny McCormick Being A Big Brother, Not Between Them Oh My Gosh, Sibling dynamic, familial bond, implied sickness, platonic fluff, some mild sexual content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-19 09:58:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14234814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeliciaAmelloides/pseuds/FeliciaAmelloides
Summary: Kenny and Karen have an awkward-ish conversation.





	Whispers In Winter

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be about Kyle and Ike, but I couldn’t think of a good enough scenario. The writing style is kinda weird in this one, and it’s my first time writing a scene with Kenny and Karen so they’re a little OOC, but I tried.
> 
> I literally came up with the title in about ten seconds- it’s more poetic than the entire fic.

“Kenny...” 

“Mm?” The blond turned from his magazine to look at his sister. They were sitting together on his bed, huddled in their combined blankets to keep warm despite the wintry chills wafting through the house (their heating had sputtered out a few hours ago). Karen was looking at him with big brown eyes, an inquisitive expression on her face which she reserved only for the weirdest of questions. Kenny waited patiently for her to ask.

“How come those ladies aren’t wearing anything?” She gingerly pointed at three women making suggestive poses on Kenny’s page. He reflexively flushed, a faint ‘shit’ running through his mind. One might have expected him not to read porn when in the company of his sister, but she didn’t seem to mind. It was just unusual for her to read over his shoulder, let alone comment on it. By the sounds of it this was the first time she’d even thought to look, hence the ‘shit’. Still, Kenny was fairly good at coming up with answers on the fly, so he tried his best.

“Well, people tend to find women- and men too, of course- more attractive when they’re naked. That’s why people read stuff like this.” Already Kenny wondered if that explanation was too lewd for Karen. Then again, she was twelve. He’d heard much worse than that by eight. However, it looked like he wasn’t getting out of the conversation so easily. Karen still had that look on her face.

“Do you? Find them attractive, I mean.” Karen shuffled closer to read the captions of the pictures. Her older brother quickly and as subtly as possible closed to magazine, stowing it away on his other side. She could read that stuff when she was older.

“Yeah, sometimes. I read them more just ‘cause now though.” That was true. Ever since their eldest sibling, Kevin, had given Kenny a porn magazine not so different from the one he held then several years ago, he has been reading them almost obsessively. He had a sort of game going on in which he’d try to read them in the most obscene places, in which getting caught would result in some serious consequences. Luckily he was never caught, even when he read one during a school assembly. But anyway...

“Kenny...” The girl absently rubbed at the dirt on her face as she continued to stare at her brother.

“Yes?”

“Can I read one?” She asked as she gestured to the magazine (just out of reach of her disturbingly bony hands). The flush on Kenny’s face became even more evident despite knowing that she didn’t understand the implications of reading such a thing. He had spent many years carefully preserving his sister’s innocence (in his household, the equivalent of walking through Hell and back sixty nine times- but to be fair, he’d done that as well and it was far easier), and he wouldn’t be the one responsible for her losing it.

“Not yet.” To cement this, he put the magazine completely away from her.

“Then when?” Karen pouted, but nuzzled closer into his side anyway. Kenny smiled offhandedly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Her frail form worried him more day by day. She seemed so thin. Too thin.

“When you’re old enough to buy one yourself.” He answered simply, smile widening as she tried to make a noise of frustration but ended up yawning instead. Karen was also getting tired more and more lately. She’d nod off at any time of the day, and he’d heard several reports from her teachers that she struggled to stay awake in class. This also worried him. He pulled the blanket stack further over her and hoped silently that she’d go to sleep for the night.

“That’s in a long time, isn’t it?” She mused, a few strands of caramel hair falling into her eyes. Kenny’s fingers brushed over her forehead as he pushed the hairs back gently.

“Yeah. But you can wait. I know you can.” They lay back on the bed, shifting so that they were in a more comfortable position. Karen looked up at him again with those eyes, once so full of life and energy. Now they seemed duller. Greyer. She yawned once more, eyes fluttering shut. This time they’d stay closed. 

“Maybe...” She mumbled, finally drifting off to sleep as the clock struck the hour. Kenny stayed with her until he too fell asleep. Even under the covers, she felt cold.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Kenny and Karen’s relationship. Brother/sister dynamics are so sweet when they’re positive. 
> 
> For some reason I sort of wanted to imply that Karen died at the end of this oneshot, but since it was too short for a reade to feel attached to them and the plot point would be too strange and unprovoked, I left it out.
> 
> Hope this didn’t seem too forced/weird. 
> 
> Prompt- The Question (that every child asks their parents eventually...)
> 
> I know what this prompt implied and I was determined to twist it somehow. The initial idea for this oneshot (after I gave up on Kyle & Ike and Craig & Ruby/Tricia) was that Karen would have a crush on someone (either Ike or Ruby I think, weird as that is) and Kenny would be caught between wanting to murder them and being happy for her. Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t go with that... would have been awful.
> 
> Original Number- 52.


End file.
